Usually, it takes far-reaching government bills or the mention of DRM to prod geeks into picking up their proverbial torches and pitchforks and expressing outrage en masse, but Wednesday's news of employers asking job applicants for their Facebook passwords caused a crapstorm of Netflix-price like proportions. Turns out, everyday folks aren't the only ones angry about it: a Connecticut Senator and Facebook itself whipped out threats of legislation and lawsuits, respectively, if the privacy-invading practice continues.

“For an employer to ask to have a password or login information is like asking for the keys someone’s home so as to be able to rummage through drawers or files. There’s simply no justification for it,” Senator Richard Blumenthal told CBS earlier today. The Senator also said he is writing a bill that would outlaw employers asking for applicants' social media login information.

Erin Egan, Facebook's Chief Privacy Officer, addressed the issue head-on in a message on the social network this morning. Besides pointing out the fact that companies that rifle through applicants' social profiles could be opening themselves up to potential discrimination and information protection liabilities, Egan also threatened the wrath of Zuckerberg on any company that asks for users' login credentials:

We’ll take action to protect the privacy and security of our users, whether by engaging policymakers or, where appropriate, by initiating legal action, including by shutting down applications that abuse their privileges… it is important that everyone on Facebook understands they have a right to keep their password to themselves, and we will do our best to protect that right.

We're guessing any company would tremble at the thought of losing their Facebook account in these social media-crazy days, but do you think new laws should be put on the books to make employer login-mining illegal?

Comments

If you are asked, you probably do not want to work for them. But out of curiosity, ask them how much it is worth, how much money they are willing to pay for your password? What ever they say you reply that your password is worth more than that. Also, your debit card pin number, your email, your keys to your house, your social security number and you ID are all worth more. But, if they are willing to pay for the password in cash, you can say that you will email the password to them and reset the password 10 seconds later. If they missed their window of opportunity it's their fault.

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I'll be honest... At first, I jumped right on board with the rage against the machine.

However, as it has continued... I find myself wondering if this isn't astroturf? if this isn't very similar to the "wrist band parties" controversy of several years ago, that turned out to be an entirely manufactured crisis that demonstrated how easy it was to get a mob going.

Wait until it they start asking for your DNA for everything. That will be the ultimate discrimination. Maybe they will test you with a cell phone. Phones can do almost eveything else these days.

Like in the 1997 film Gattaca with Ethan Hawke. Everyone should see this movie to see a glimpse of the future. All I can say is "I'm proud to be a GODCHILD" and wouldn't want it any other way. It's in the movie.

Yeah, they also told me back in 1990 that water would never be sold in vending machines and smoking would never be banned.

I sure as hell want this to pass! Why isn't this illegal? I worry that I might be denied a job if an employer demands my Facebook login credentials and I tell them the fucking truth, that I don't have a stupid facebook account in the first place!

"Well, if you want to work here, it is a requirement that you create and maintain a Facebook account, and then provide use with your login information, your cell phone number, and a key to your house, so that we can maintain our high level of employee honesty and integrity".

Go ahead and make it illegal. But what's to stop the job recruiter from instructing you to accept their human resource department's friend request and thereby allowing them to view everything that you have set to friends only?

I agree with TommM that I haven't seen or heard of a single company that is doing this. In addition, does it make a difference if companies do ask this? If that was on a job application, people will just start creating second or third FB accounts to use for this purpose, not their main personal account. Just like emails - I have couple throw away ones for internet shopping and the like. People adapt to sidestep this crap.

Employer login-mining is already illegal under several laws, and a direct violation of the terms of service. It's no better than common phishing, but with extortion added in. Any company executive caught choosing to engage in these practices should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the existing laws. The companies they represent subject to scrutiny and appropriate legal actions, including forced to pay stipends to any individual whom they "may have discriminated against" based on any information that "may have been acquired" equal to full time wages on the period from the point of application to present, Multiplied by some constant, determined by the judge on a case by case basis, for punitive purposes of course.

There you go. Just a few companies listed and even quoted for why they do it. It seems to be most often civil service jobs where they get asked. Sounds to me like HR departments that are too lazy to do a proper background check, and instead want to see what your last ex had to say about you.

Yeah who would of thunk it? The government taking liberties with our, well our liberties.
As for a law to protect us from their laws? Well the way they attach riders, we'd then need a law to protect us from that one. And then another law to protect us from that one, and another, and so on.
They'd be too busy debating each.. new... law.... to.....
Hey! I think we could really use a law like that.

Hiring based on whether or not someone supplies there social network account information is just another form employment discrimination. So in that sense I think the current anti-discrimination laws need to be amended and enforced. I don't believe new laws need to be created.

This is simple. Employers do not have the right to know EVERYTHING about you. You are an employee, not a servant or slave. Sadly though, big corporation are beginning to think of works as such. This idea that without this information they are putting themselves at some tremendous risk is ludicrous. What did employers do before Facebook? What risk were they taking at that time?

Now if a person is stupid enough to have something stupid, illegal, or something puts a persons common sense to question up on their Facebook page and it makes it back to their employer, then the employer has the right to say we have been shown these post and pictures and this is not acceptable behavior for one of our employees. They can either ask the employee to correct the behavior or fire them. However, they cannot go looking through your personal private information, just in case. Honestly, if an interviewer said, we are sending a private investigator over to your house this evening to look through your things, can I have your keys? What would you say. Yes you would say that. However, if someone drove by your home and you have Nazi flag flying from your front steps.. then no job for you (an a smack in the head).

"do you think new laws should be put on the books to make employer login-mining illegal"

Absolutely. This is one of the problems with corporatocracy today, and the political power needs to step up and say "no".

As long as the US economy is in it's current state, where job seekers seem to be severely disadvantaged on the applicant/position ratio, businesses doing "things like this" will continue until it is made illegal.

I have a FB account, although I use it *rarely*. It was more needed as a platform to keep in contact with my friends and family who use it very often. I essentially have nothing loaded into it and it is very generic. Still... I would NEVER hand over the credentials to anyone.